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"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He tried to assure me, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to